LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — MillerCoors, a U.S. joint venture between SABMiller Plc
and Molson Coors Co, on Thursday said it had uncovered a
multi-year scheme in which two former employees
allegedly embezzled several million dollars.

"Based on an extensive internal and external
investigation, MillerCoors believes former employee David
Colletti embezzled several million dollars from the company over
several years and that former employee Paul Edwards was involved
to a lesser extent in the scheme," company spokesman Jonathan
Stern said in a statement.

Stern said MillerCoors referred Colletti and Edwards to federal
authorities for criminal prosecution and that the company is
seeking to recover the funds from a combination of insurance and
restitution in the criminal process.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago said no
charges had been filed against Colletti and Edwards. He declined
to confirm or deny that the two men were under investigation.

Reuters was unable to contact Colletti and Edwards for comment.

MillerCoors declined further comment and would not provide
contact information for the two men.

Beer Business Daily, which was first to report MillerCoors'
findings, said the alleged embezzlement involved falsifying
invoices with certain vendors.

Beer Business Daily cited a memo from the CEO of MillerCoors as
the source for its story. Reuters was unable to obtain the memo.